


Quiet Moments

by Raven_Ehtar



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Quiet, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-18 14:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18701830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/pseuds/Raven_Ehtar
Summary: Tony and Loki spend a soft morning in one another's company, reflecting on their relationship and how well they fit together.





	Quiet Moments

**Author's Note:**

> Story number 3 for Story a Day May!
> 
> I'm definitely indulging in the fluff so far this month. XD There'll be more genres later, but I'm feeling the need for mostly sowft things right now.
> 
> Still working on writing and editing at a sprinting pace. If you spot any errors, feel free to point them out, I'll get them fixed when I have a chance! ♥

It wasn’t something he thought he would ever really have for himself. He’d heard about it before, knew that it was possible in theory, but to actually experience quiet mornings in bed with someone he loved, it was… it was something he still wasn’t entirely sure was happening to him.

It had almost been a thing with Pepper. For a while he’d been pretty sure they’d actually gotten to that point. After all, they were _together_ , and Tony didn’t feel the need to wake and leave before Pepper ever woke up. Pepper hadn’t been a one night stand or a quick fling. There had been no need to leave as soon as he woke to avoid the awkward conversation which would inevitably follow his bed partner waking.

With Pepper, there had been the luxury of being able to sleep in, to enjoy the warmth of the bed until they were both ready to rise.

Except they never seemed to quite… get there. They were both busy people, he’d reasoned at the time. If Tony didn’t have something which needed his attention, then Pepper certainly did. They both had a lot which required their attention – things beyond one another, which prevented them from ever quite taking advantage of waking together in the same bed. The closest they ever came was when they roused at the same time and were able to greet one another, perhaps spend a few minutes chatting as they woke the rest of the way, before they both had get up and ready for the day.

If Tony had been more experienced on the relationship front, having more to pull knowledge from than a string of no-strings-attached encounters, he might have taken that as one of the signs that they weren’t _quite_ clicking together.

It certainly clicked now. Now that he had something else to compare it to.

Waking up in a tangle of limbs, Tony decided, was one of the very best ways _to_ wake up. Not even a tangle of limbs in the sense that something athletic had happened the night before. But waking with a pair of arms wrapped around him, fingers threaded through his, a pair of legs wrapped and hooked around his own, with the ankles interlocked to keep them together, and a warm chest pressing into his back. It was the best way he had ever woken up, and he doubted he would ever find anything which ever bested it.

He took a deep breath, his back pressing even further into Loki’s chest, and sighed contentedly. If he’d ever had any reservations about being the ‘little spoon,’ then those had all been absolutely broken once he and Loki had begun sharing a bed. Loki was a little possessive – over people, if not things – and that showed when they settled down to sleep.

“Are you awake, Anthony?” Even though they were spoken right against his ear, the words were barely loud enough to be heard. So soft that if Tony _had_ been asleep, he wouldn’t have stirred in response to them, but still enough to be heard while he was awake.

He shook his head a little, which led him to snuggling further down into his pillow and Loki’s arm. “Nope. Definitely not. Still deep asleep, won’t be awake for another hour or so.”

Loki chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest and into Tony’s. “Well, then, in that case, I had best stay right where I am. I would hate to disturb your sleep, since it can be so hard to get sometimes.”

“Tha’s right,” Tony murmured, and pulled at Loki’s arms like they were a blanket, wrapping himself up more tightly in the Asgardian’s embrace, pressing them closer together with one another. “No waking up the Tony when he’s still sleepy.”

Loki chuckled again, following along with his lead in wrapping himself more tightly around Tony, including with his legs, so it almost felt as though he were being held a prisoner.

Tony was only too glad to be a prisoner in this case. It was warm and soft and comfortable, with the light from the windows only just beginning to stream in. Through barely parted lids, it looked as though it was going to be a somewhat overcast day, with the light diffuse and quiet. That was fine. It only made staying in bed all the more appealing. What could be better than snuggling in a bed all day with a warm body next to him while the outside was dim and tranquil?

Maybe if it rained, as well. Maybe they could just camp out in bed, wrapped up in blankets and one another, watch movies or read books, nap when they felt like it… It sounded like an ideal sort of day to Tony.

And wasn’t that an odd thing? Since when had Tony become the sort of person to like lounging around all day? Wasn’t he the same guy who would leap out of bed as soon as he woke up and start working on… well, _anything_ , just to keep himself moving? Where had all that energy gone, so that he felt like he could just be still?

And Loki would be okay with it, too, he knew. Loki was surprisingly affectionate, at least when they were in private. Once there were others about he seemed to feel the need to put up a front, but when it was just the two of them, that façade was allowed to fall away.

It was restful, being with Loki, even when they weren’t both lazing about in bed just because they could. It was restful being in his company, in knowing that he was there, in feeling his presence, his warmth, hearing him breathe…

Given where he had come from and what he was capable of, it ought to have felt as though Loki were barely real, a step away from being a figment of his imagination, given shape and shadow. But Loki actually felt _more_ real than anyone he had ever met before in his life. More solid, given more weight in the world than the average person who was walking around. When Loki was in the room, it was as though everyone else paled in comparison, turning to gauze, the world around them could almost visible _through_ them, whereas with Loki…

With Loki, there was no getting around him. No brushing him aside or forgetting he was there. Loki was a lodestone, to which the world around him aligned itself. A pin in reality which held it all in place.

And he was with Tony, holding him tight and together. He didn’t know for certain how it was he had gotten so lucky as to have someone like Loki be with him the way they were, but he would never take it for granted. Not Loki, not the time they had together, not the small moments which they could take out of each day which were just theirs’…

And he would never take for granted the _rest_ he was always able to get when he was in Loki’s embrace.

—•—

It had taken some time for Loki to truly realize what it was which made the experience of living on Midgard so fundamentally different than anywhere else in the Realms.

There were some obvious differences, of course, and while he had still been adjusting to those obvious changes, the question hardly seemed to need the asking. The people and the world itself were all very… primitive. And there being far _too many_ people, all pressed in together in a way which would have put the city of Asgard to shame. There was the food, the weather, the culture – _multiple_ cultures to contend with, the politics, art, music, customs…

Visiting other Realms had long been a hobby of his, and as such he was perhaps one of the most well equipped of the Asgardians to deal with the change. He had a much better grasp on how the world and its people functioned, and could blend into the background almost seamlessly when he wanted to, with or without illusions to help him. Even Thor, for all of the time he had spent on the planet with the Avengers, learning what he could simply by being in their company, wasn’t nearly so well able to cope as Loki was.

And yet. Visiting a planet and knowing how to function within it for a set, limited amount of time was vastly different than _living_ there. The first few months of _living_ on Midgard had been spent almost entirely to adjusting to it all, in learning how to operate within its structure day in and day out. But even when he’d been certain that he had achieved that particular goal, he still felt out of place, not quite fitting as he should be…

And then Anthony had happened. Anthony and _him_ had happened, and any sort of uncertainty could be explained by the unexpected and unprecedented development of becoming Anthony Stark’s _lover_. Of Anthony Stark being _his_ lover. It was… It certainly put everything about Midgard into a new perspective, and, to his own surprise, it put _himself_ into a new perspective, as well. Any sort of awkwardness or unfamiliarity from then on could simply be explained by _that_ being the reason why.

Except… it didn’t. Once the first – and second and third – bouts of adjustments had been made regarding their new relationship, everything had just sort of fallen into place.

It was _that_ which felt so odd, ironically enough. When he’d lived at ho—in Asgard, there had always been a strange sense of not quite belonging, save for in a very few situations or areas. He’d put it down to just quite fitting in with the rest of his people – for being a black sheep. His preference for magical work over physical might, his love of history not just for the battles, but for the treaties and pacts which were drawn up between Realms, for his fascination with some of the Realms and their ways, his curiosity with the universe and how it worked… None of it made him an easy fit even with his own people, and he hadn’t looked much beyond that for any more reasons.

By all rights, living on Midgard he ought to have provided even _less_ reason to feel as though he belonged. Human awareness that magic even _existed_ was patchy at best, and only recently beginning to grow much beyond that. How could he possibly hope to fit in even as well as he had done on Asgard? And none of that was even taking into consideration the fact that he had once attempted to take over the planet…

But he _had_ managed to fit in. He’d settled in so well and so solidly that it felt strange in comparison to how he had felt on Asgard.

He’d managed to find a place where he fit in, was wanted and accepted even more fully than he had been in his own home. And Loki attributed that totally and completely to the man who was sitting across from him at the breakfast table.

“Ham again for breakfast? You’re going to have a heart attack at that the rate you’re going, Lokes.”

He smiled at Anthony. The man’s face was still rough with stubble he’d yet to trim away, his hair an absolute wreck from lounging in the pillows, his eyes still soft from sleep and a near refusal to get up out of bed that morning. “I endured much worse in the way of diet while I lived on Asgard. I think I’ll be alright with a little pork in the morning.”

The human snorted and shook his head. His own breakfast consisted of a bagel, some scrambled eggs and a bowl of fruit, along with the ubiquitous mug of coffee.

“I’m choosing not to comment on that, despite how well you set yourself up for a dirty comeback.”

Loki returned the soft snort, turning his attention to his breakfast, cutting into the thick ham slices and buttering his bagel.

This was what made living on Midgard so strange: these moments of quiet normalcy. Times when there was nothing at all to preoccupy them, save the moment itself – times when they could relax with one another in bed, when they could share a meal in tranquility, moments… _between_ times. Blank instants where nothing of real consequence was happening, and there would be no real reason to remember them.

Anthony and Loki spent their late morning in near silence, moving around one another across the table as they reached for what they needed, passed some items and utensils back and forth, fingers occasionally brushing each other, little reminders of each other’s presence, of their nearness. It was comfortable, they fit together easily, and it wasn’t only due to habit.

They _belonged_. They belonged with one another, and such belonging meant that, for the first time, Loki truly fit in where he found himself. More than in a palace on Asgard, surrounded by people whom he’d once considered his own, more than in any other place he had ever been, willingly or no. He _belonged_ in this place with Anthony, because it was _with Anthony_.

He considered, occasionally, telling Anthony what he felt, and what all of this, what _he_ meant to him… but he doubted he would ever be able to truly communicate even a portion of that feeling—that _knowing_ of belonging when he was with him. In a way, he was fairly certain he didn’t have to. As much as Loki felt that he had at last found the one place where he belonged, he was relatively certain that it was the same for Anthony.

They had each found their belonging in one another.

They had each found in each other a home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone!
> 
> You can find me on  
> Tumblr: [@ehtarwrites](http://ehtarwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [@ehtarwrites](https://twitter.com/ehtarwrites)  
> Discord: @ehtarwrites#4962 
> 
> If anyone wants to come say hi or chat about nerdy things, hmu! ♥


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